


A Glimpse Into Their Lives

by TimeLadyoftheSith



Series: The Long Way Around [3]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Chance Meeting, Children, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-16 12:22:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10571229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeLadyoftheSith/pseuds/TimeLadyoftheSith
Summary: The Twelfth Doctor and the TARDIS take a short but startling trip through a Rift. They end up in Pete's world. When a little girl bumps into the Doctor in a shop, he gets a little look into a life he'll never get to live.Stand Alone addition to "The Long Way Around" can be read on it's own





	1. Chapter 1

The TARDIS was flashing mauve. It jerked around the Doctor, and alarms blared deafeningly into his ears. All he had tried to do was try to park her on a rift to fuel her up. A sudden earthquake had come from nowhere, and the rift had rumbled open. It sent the TARDIS tumbling through the void, and now she was screaming at him. Slowly her alarms quieted down and the lights returned to their normal bluish white.

Books from the shelves were scattered all around the floor, and the Doctor pushed them away as he pushed himself to his feet. He dashed to the controls, running the diagnostic on his old girl. She was fine, but still needed more fueling. The rift was still open, and according to his scanner, wouldn't be closing for another fifteen hours. He wanted to let her rest, so he adjusted his coat and stepped out into the crowded parking lot where she had parked herself.

There was something so familiar about the way the air tasted, the way buildings looked. It was like a dream he had forced himself to forget. It wasn't until a flashing advertisement caught his eyes that his memory threw everything to the forefront.

The Doctor dashed back into the TARDIS. He turned on the console screen, ignoring the whining protest of the ship. There was no denying it. He was there, almost eleven years in this universe's future since he had last been. For him it had been too long to count, too long to want to remember. The screen went dark, his poor girl exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Curiosity warred with his sense of logic. He wanted to walk around, see what he could hear or discover. The Doctor heaved a conflicted breath, ran his hands through his gray curls, and stepped back out into the parking lot.

His eyes found the doors to the big box retail shop, and he wandered his way inside. The crowds weren't too busy, as it was around two in the afternoon on a Wednesday. His time sense here was always off by a bit.

The entrance he had come through led him right into aisles of household goods, and across from that was a toy aisle. The Doctor let his feet take him down the aisle filled with building blocks, model cars, and science kits for children. He was so focused on a build it yourself rocket kit, which was labeled as Torchwood Academy Educational Department approved for ages eight and up, that he didn't hear the patter of little feet.

A small but racing child crashed into his legs. He looked down, startled a bit, as the little girl rubbed her elbow and winced. She pulled the chemistry kit she had picked off the shelf down the aisle back into her lap. "Sorry Mister." Her tiny voice had and accent so familiar he felt his hearts drop.

"Gotta be more careful." He replied. "Didn't hurt yourself, did you?" He took the chemistry kit from her and helped her to her feet. Even her tiny little fingers felt familiar in his aged hands.

"Bumped my elbow." The girl replied, showing him the red mark. "I didn't mean to run into you. Mummy always says I should watch where I'm running." She brushed off the back of her pink tutu style skirt and finally looked up into his face.

The Doctor was overwhelmed. The little girl had waist length chestnut curls, whiskey colored hazel eyes, a delicate button of a nose, and a broad smile he sometimes still saw in his dreams. She was wearing a pink tutu over a pair of black leggings covered in stars. Her shoes were bright pink Converse high tops, and her black shirt had a pink and silver atom on it.

"Here. You dropped this." He half choked as he handed the kit to her. "Don't think anything's broken."

"Thank you!" The girl squealed and took it back. Sure enough, her tiny pink tongue touched a gap in her smile where an incisor should have been. That alone told him she was probably around seven or eight. It was what he couldn't see that really shocked him. The presence of her mind, among all the humans in the shop, was brighter and stronger. It was still explicitly human, but so far ahead of the others around them that he couldn't deny who her father must be. The

"Allison!" An all too familiar and long forgotten voice called out from a few aisles over. "Allison, what have I told you about wandering off!"

"Is she wearing a pink tutu?" The Doctor called, feeling his world tilt dangerously. "If so she's over here!" He should turn and run away. His feet wouldn't obey.

"There you are!" A shopping trolley came around the corner, and a face he hadn't seen in hundreds of years was right behind it.

Her hair was longer, just past her shoulders he guessed, but pulled up in a messy ponytail. She was a little bit curvier, probably from carrying the little girl still at his side. Her makeup was lighter than he'd ever seen her wear it, more suitable for a mother her age, and she looked a bit older, more in her mid to late thirties than the feisty twenty year old he remembered.

"Sorry." Rose smiled and shook her head. "Did you bump into you? She's always doing that when she's distracted."

"Mummy!" Allison dashed over to her holding the box. "Can I get this?!"

"Did you apologize to the nice man for bumping into him?" She raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Yes, she did." The Doctor finally spoke. "I'm fine, but she hurt her elbow though."

"Let me see." Rose knelt down, taking Allison's arm. "Oh, just a bump. Daddy will fix that right up" The Doctor saw a small but sparkling wedding set on her left hand.

"My Daddy's a doctor!" Allison announced proudly. "He's a super special Doctor!"

"Allison." Rose hissed standing up. "What have we told you about bragging." She turned to the Doctor and shook her head. "I'm so sorry if she bothered you."

"No bother at all." He gave a half smile. "She must be a bright little lady if she is interested in a chemistry set."

Allison, now distracted from her fall and her chemistry set, was staring at him with wide eyes. "Mummy." She whispered, pulling on Rose's hand.

"Yes, love." Rose knelt again, and Allison whispered furiously in her ear.

His sensitive hearing caught every word. "His mind feels like Daddy's."

Rose laughed and shook her head. "Oh, sweetie, don't be silly."

"Rose!" Another voice he recognized called from around the corner. "You two about ready?"

A face the Doctor hadn't seen in just as long came around the corner as well. This one was a little older as well. The rich brown hair had one or two grays showing. The brown eyes behind a pair of square spectacles had a few more lines in the corner. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants, and an oxford with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. On his shoulders was a boy of about four, who looked exactly like him, and on the left hand clutching the little boys's leg was a golden band. Their minds were just as bright and powerful as Allison's.

"Hello!" The boy exclaimed waving at the Doctor. Then he leaned around his father's head, arms outstretched. "Mummy! Catch me!"

Rose stood up and caught the boy as the man standing next to Rose stared at him, his mouth agape. "Nathan!" She laughed and slid him into the seat of the buggy. Then she saw the way her husband's face. "John." She took his hand when he didn't look at her. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"I'm what's wrong." The Doctor cleared his throat. "I should probably go." He backed away from the family.

"How are you even here?" Doctor John spoke, his eyes wide with shock.

"A thing happened." The Doctor replied. "I really should be leaving."

Understanding washed across Rose's face. "Doctor?" She gasped, letting go of her husband's hand and moving towards him.

"Hello Rose." He froze in his movements. "It's good to see you." Before he could blink the blonde human wrapped him in a hug.

"Are you okay?" Rose whispered into his ear. "Are you alone?"

The Doctor wriggled his way free of her arms, noticing the look on the face of his tenth body. His human body. "I'm fine. Really, my companion is actually waiting back at the TARDIS for me. I should go. The rift we fell through will be closing soon!"

With that he rushed past them, out of the store, and through the doors of the TARDIS. He powered up his ship, even though she was only half fueled. As if sensing the urgency of his situation, her time rotor began whirring. On the console screen he saw his metacrisis holding his daughter's hand and pointing at the box. The bright eyed girl waved at the box, and then the TARDIS launched herself back through the void.

A long held fear inside the Doctor's hearts washed away. Rose had made him better. She was happy.

After losing so much over the years, he at least knew some part of him wasn't alone. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Makes more sense if you've read the slow Path to Adventure and the Tangled Path to Adventure

Epilogue

 

Rose looks so beautiful, even though she complains that two pregnancies did a number on her body. The Doctor vehemently agrees that they did 'a number', but not in a bad way. Every day, she seems more and more beautiful to him. Not just in appearance either, but in her heart and mind as well. Even standing there on the sidewalk, her light mascara running down her eyes, she looks absolutely breath taking. The reason for her tears making all the more stunning.

Allison is jittering beside him, her mouth going a billion miles an hour. Poor little Nathan is looking up at his mum so confused as to why she is crying and smiling all at once. Allison wanted to know what that blue box was, and how come it made the same noise as the funny wardrobe in the attic.

She's old enough now, The Doctor thinks, to keep the secret. Perhaps tonight Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto can babysit Nathan tonight, and he and Rose could teach Allison how to run. He's about to suggest that very thing when his wife kisses him softly.

"I love you." Rose's voice always sounds like she is reassuring him, like she thinks he could ever doubt that fact.

"I love you too." The Doctor smiles back, his single heart skipping a beat at the smell of her skin and the brush of her mind against his. He caresses her face, brushing his thoughts against hers. The Doctor may have the universe and immortality, but Doctor John Noble has the world.


End file.
